*Actress, producer, singer and now wifey Naturi Naughton chops it up with iHeart Radio’s and EURweb Spotlight host Jazmyn ‘Jaz’ Summers on how the marriage is going, an amazing new show she is directing for BET Her: “Behind the Smile” and whether the rumors of a 2 or 3LW reunion are true or false.
Naturi is well-known as an actress and singer. Now she is engaged in her first directorial debut with “Behind the Smile” shining a light on the skin disorder vitiligo and depression. Its part of the BET Her ‘”The Couch” a series of poignant short films depicting the realities of mental illness.
Naturi tells EURweb Spotlight that she was nervous but excited to direct for the first time.
“I’ve been on Broadway, I’ve been in the girl group, and I just don’t believe in putting limitations on myself. I’m creating my own highway. That’s what we all have to do, particularly as women of color. We have to break through those doors. . “Behind The Smile” is going to, I hope, inspire so many people who are dealing with depression or mental health. My character, the lead character, has vitiligo, and she’s dealing with the skin disorder that creates the depigmentation of the skin. We all have body issues. Even if it’s not vitiligo it’s something else. So I think it’s a real commonality and universality.”
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Giving back is important to her. she recently did a campaign on high blood pressure in the Black community with the American Heart Association.
“I am about that life,” Naturi says. “The passion comes from seeing some of my own family deal with these issues. I have family members who are dealing with mental health right now, family members who are dealing with high blood pressure, dealing with addiction issues. Whatever it is, we can’t shun those people or not discuss it. If we don’t deal with our problems, they won’t just go away. We actually have to activate and engage and say, okay, I know you’re going through this. Let’s talk about it.”
Naturi reveals she went through depression herself but like many Black women she “put on that smile.”
“We could be dying inside. We could be depressed,” she declares. “We could have just broke up with that man, caught him cheating but we put on the mask. And that’s why they always say, check on those who are even smiling.”
Naturi shares with Jaz that her depression came when: “I was pregnant with my daughter and going through separating from her dad and being a single mom. Very quickly I was on my own. I was big and pregnant, but I was really feeling alone. And post pregnancy, I felt even worse because I was so worried about people judging me or embarrassed that I wasn’t married at the time and that I didn’t have someone in the household. So it felt like I didn’t know how to address that. On the outside I was like, I’m good but I was really in a lot of pain. I was really lonely and hurt and depressed. And I think I went through a phase in early motherhood where I didn’t know if I could do this. I didn’t know if I was strong enough to do it all by myself. And I did.”
What got her through?
“Prayer, child. That’s right. Get on them knees, girl. I am so rooted in my faith.”
But Naturi tells Jaz that having support was also essential: “Thank God for my family, for my circle, my village of friends. There is my Godmother, my best friend Melissa, and my other best friend, Yasmine. So I think about all the people that carried me and took me when I was feeling weak. My mother came and lived with me and helped me take care of Zuri when she was an infant. So I just think about how good prayer is and family. So it wasn’t just my faith. It was also active works in faith and the people in my village supporting me and lifting me up. No slogan. It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a village to bring you out of pain, to bring you out of debt, takes the village to bring you out of depression. It takes a village to get you through a bad marriage. “she shares.
And now the smile is real. She was introduced to her new hubby Xavier “Two” Lewis by friend and fellow “Power” actor Omari Hardwick, who “Two” manages.
They were married in a romantic fairytale wedding April 2, 2022.
Naturi says the marriage is going great.
“God is so good. I have come a long way. Married life is amazing. I married my best friend. He is truly, like, unbelievable. He was just complimenting me because I made breakfast for him in between all these interviews I’m doing, and I only had like a 30 minute break. And I made coffee, whipped up some bacon, eggs.”
“I take care of my man. But the beauty is he also loves taking care of me. And “Two” is a kind person. He gives. He has a non profit in Georgia, and works with young people outside of managing artists. He’s very passionate about community building and that’s something that we’re kind of deciding in our marriage. We’re going to work together a lot more so we can help some of these young men and young women. We want to encourage Black love because my parents just celebrated 51 years. They’ve been married for half of a century. So if we can find ways to reignite those relationships and restore our family structure, I think the world would be a lot better. Because a lot of young people are lost and if we just get the home right, their whole world can be changed and effective for the good.”
Take lessons ladies.
Recently the internet blew up with rumors of a 2LW reunion between former 3LW member Adrienne Bailon and Naturi. The girl group had imploded years ago with stories of the members beefing, allegedly kicking Naturi out of the group and throwing food at each other. Naturi says no reunion is happening but she and Adrienne have finally made peace
“It’s just two of us as women recognizing that there was a lot of dysfunction in that environment and it was most of the adults that were dysfunctional. But I’m grateful that we have been able to heal. We had an interview. I was on the reel for Queens, the show that I was on, and it was the energy that we were just like, you know what, let’s let this go. We are married, we are women, we are killing it in our careers. And I just appreciated that. She was very respectful of my journey. In fact, we just had dinner and we’ve been talking ever since.”
Naturi is also starring in a new thriller,”88,” which was showcased in the Tribeca film festival.
You can catch the full conversation in the video at the top. And please don’t forget to subscribe to Jazmyn Summers youtube.
Interview/article by Jazmyn Summers. Follow her @jaztalk1 on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook. Video editing by www.patrickhousefilms.com
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